Synopsis

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS charts the beginning of the X-Men saga, and reveals a secret history of famous global events. Before mutants had revealed themselves to the world, and before Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Not archenemies, they were instead at first the closest of friends, working together with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to prevent nuclear Armageddon. In the process, a grave rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto's Brotherhood and Professor X's X-Men.

The Smurfs led a group of five new releases on the Blu-ray sales chart earning first place in the process. It sold 355,000 units while generating $8.88 million during its first week on the home market, which represents 42% of all units sold. That's a very strong opening week Blu-ray ratio for a live action kids movie.
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Transformers: Dark of the Moon dominated the new releases and the Blu-ray sales chart in a way few films have managed. It sold 1.42 million units generating $29.66 million from Friday through Sunday. Its opening Blu-ray ratio was 64%, which is a record for a first-run release. It also represented 68% of all Blu-rays sold, which is mind-boggling.
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There were only three new releases to reach the top 30 on this week's DVD Sales Chart, but all three placed high on the list. Leading the way was Transformers: Dark of the Moon with 796,000 units / $13.53 million from Friday through Sunday. This is lower than Bridesmaids opened with last week, but this was a Friday release, so that does have some effect. I'm still a little disappointed in the film's DVD sales, but hopefully it was much stronger on Blu-ray.
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Bridesmaids led the way on the Blu-ray sales chart, just as it did on the DVD sales chart. It was by far the best new release selling 593,000 units and generating $13.30 million in revenue. Its opening week Blu-ray ratio was 30%, which is very high for this type of release and further proof Blu-ray is taking over from DVD.
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New releases were again dominated by TV on DVD releases representing five of the eight new DVDs to reach the top 30 on this week's DVD sales chart. However, none of them reached the top five. The best of these new releases was Bridesmaids with 1.37 million units / $21.44 million in opening week sales.
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There are three major releases on this week's Blu-ray sales chart, including one that was released a little early, and one that was released a little late. Leading the way in terms of units sold is Thor with 799,000 units / $22.00 million. Its opening Blu-ray ratio was just a hair under 50% and that's a figure that will quickly become the norm for blockbuster releases.
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TV on DVD dominated new releases with nine of them in the top 30 on this week's DVD sales chart. However, the number one release of the week was not TV on DVD, but Thor, which opened with 811,000 units / $14.53 million. That's the best debut since Rio, and it is likely this film will be even better on Blu-ray.
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We had good news on the Blu-ray sales chart, as X-Men: First Classopened better than it did on DVD. It dominated with 825,000 units / $19.35 million during just three days of sales. That was more than the rest of the market managed over the full week. This gave the film an opening week Blu-ray ratio of just under 60%, which is the best the format has managed for a first-run release.
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While there were high hopes for Bridesmaids in terms of critical reception, it wasn't expected to be a huge hit in theaters. Female driven comedies are generally a hard sell at the box office. R-rated ones are practically unheard of. It opened with respectable numbers, but nothing too special. Then its legs kicked in. In the end, the film earned more than $160 million and topped such films as X-Men: First Class and Green Lantern, both of which opened with twice as much money as Bridesmaids did. Is it really as good as its box office numbers would indicate. Or will I be one of the few to fail to see its appeal.
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While Rio fell to third place on the DVD sales chart this week, it remained in first place on the Blu-ray sales chart with 70,000 units sold and $1.40 million in sales. Its totals reached 1.58 million units sold and $34.63 million in total sales.
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It is an incredibly busy week on the home market with several major releases, including Thor on Blu-ray, as well as Star WarsThe Complete Saga, which comes out this Friday. Unfortunately, neither of the screeners have arrived yet, so it is hard to tell if they are pick of the week material. I figured Star Wars would easily take that honor, but the changes made have pissed off enough people that I think it's best that I hold off making a judgment till after it arrives. After spending way too long trying to pick between the two, I'm going with Degrassi: Season Ten, Part Two instead.
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It's a transition week on the home market and while today doesn't mark the beginning of the Christmas shopping season, it's soon. Very soon. As in Friday. That's when X-Men: First Class comes out, which is the first of the summer blockbusters. The film earned fantastic reviews and will likely be the Pick of the Week, when the screener arrives.
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Transformers: Dark of the Moon repeated as champion on the international stage with $94.70 million on 11,222 screens in 58 markets for a total of $386.43 million internationally and $647.51 million worldwide. At this pace, by this weekend it will be ahead of Transformers and will have no trouble becoming the biggest hit in the franchise. As for individual markets, it earned the most in South Korea where it was down just 31% to $15.11 million on 1,301 screens over the weekend for a total of $54.47 million after two. It became the fastest film to reach $50 million in that market. It wasn't able to hold on as well in the U.K. down 56% to $7.58 million on 522 screens over the weekend for a total of $31.45 million after two. In Australia it was down 43%, which at first glance seems strong, but it was a holiday weekend in that market and half the films in the top five saw growth. It still added $7.52 million on 596 screens over the weekend for a running tally of $29.13 million, which is stronger than its performance, given the relative size of the two markets. The film fell 56% in Russia, which isn't bad compared to the average drop-off in that market. It managed $7.47 million on 1,385 screens over the weekend for a two-week total of $36.03 million.
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In a battle of digitally animatedsequels, Cars 2 came out on top with $39.23 million on 4,873 screens in 25 markets for a total opening of $43.98 million. Its best market was Russia where it opened in first place with $9.42 million on 950 screens. By comparison, the original Cars made $4 million in that market, in total. The film was also very strong in Mexico with $8.08 million on 1,981 screens and in Brazil with $5.29 million on 747 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $7.04 million. The film had to deal with direct competition in Australia, but still came out on top with $5.13 million. The final major market it debuted in was Italy, where it earned $3.86 million on 834 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $5.71 million. Overall, the film more than doubled the debuts of Cars in the markets it opened in, while it was on par with Toys 3's openings. Granted, it likely won't have the same legs, but this is still a great start.
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July starts with one of the most important holidays of the year, which is good news for the industry, as June was a little weaker than expected, at least on average. None of the films were shockingly bad at the box office, even if a few missed early predictions by significant degrees. But conversely, none really shocked analysts with their box office prowess. As such, 2011 continued to slide a little further behind 2010's pace, a trend the movie industry hopes will end this month. Fortunately, that is a reasonable goal. Last July was home to two $100 million movies, two $200 million movies, and a one $300 million movie, assuming you count The Twilight Saga: Eclipse as a July film. This time around, we could see two films top $300 million, assuming you count Transformers: Dark of the Moon as a July release. Meanwhile, there are several potential $100 million films. I count up to six films with a statistically significant shot at reaching the century mark, but I would be amazed if more than half of them got there.
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Kung Fu Panda 2 remained in top spot on the international chart with $58.16 million on 11,244 screens in 54 markets for totals of $284.22 million internationally and $427.89 million worldwide. The film opened in France and Germany with nearly identical results with $6.91 million on 725 screens in the former and $6.91 million on 699 screens in the latter. (The result in Germany does include some previews.) So far the film has made an estimated $77 million in China, which is by far the film's biggest market.
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The overall box office box office this past weekend was as expected, more or less. A few of the films did a little bit better, a few missed expectations, but not by a lot. This helped the box office grow by 11% from last weekend to $153 million. Unfortunately, this weekend last year saw the release of Toy Story 3, which made $110 million by itself, so year-over-year there was a 23% drop-off. Year-to-date, 2011 is behind 2010 by 8% at $4.65 billion to $5.03 billion, but perhaps we can close that gap a little bit this coming weekend.
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As expected, Green Lantern led the way at the box office this weekend, based on studio estimates released on Sunday, but a weak performance on Saturday and an expected further decline on Sunday will leave it with a fairly modest $52.69 million weekend, according to Warner Bros.' estimate. That puts it behind X-Men: First Class ($55 million) and Thor ($66 million) so far as opening weekends for superhero movies are concerned, and its reviews suggest it won't have the legs of the other two. Mr. Popper's Penguins also under-performed compared to original expectations, although its $18.2 million debut is in line with the numbers Fox was expecting going in to the weekend.
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After a strong start to the summer, which actually began in late April, we could hit a real roadblock this weekend. The only film earning any kind of buzz is Green Lantern, and not all of that buzz is good. Additionally, this weekend last year was dominated by Toy Story 3, which opened with $110 million. There is a chance the top five films won't make that much this year.
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Kung Fu Panda 2 climbed into top spot on the international chart after three weeks of release, earning $56.72 million on 11,867 screens in 45 markets for a total of $206.11 million internationally and $332.92 million worldwide. This past weekend the film debuted in a number of major markets, led by the U.K. where it made $10.07 million on 514 screens, but while this was enough for first place in the market, it was less than the original made. On the other hand, it showed growth in Mexico with $7.34 million on 1,841 screens over the weekend and a total opening of $14.69 million, and in Brazil with $4.79 million on 714 screens over the weekend and $5.18 million in total. The film opens in France and Germany next weekend and Japan and Italy in August, so it still has quite a way to go before its international run is over.
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Nearly every film in the top five beat Thursday's predictions, and the one film that didn't landed within a rounding error of doing so. This helped the overall box office reach $138 million for the weekend, but while this was better than expected, it was still 14% lower than last weekend and 9% lower than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2011 is behind 2010 by 7% at $4.43 billion to $4.76 billion, but this is better than it has been for the majority of the year.
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As someone on Twitter put it this morning, Super 8's $37 million opening takes E.T.'s lifetime gross to $472 million.

The robust opening for J.J. Abrams homage to Steven Spielberg will satisfy Paramount, especially with the heart of the Summer season ahead of it, good reviews and great word-of-mouth. $100 million should be easily achieved from this beginning, and even better numbers aren't out of the question. For a film that reportedly cost $50 million, that's not bad going.
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After X-Men: First Class opened on the low end of expectations last weekend, it is even more important that Super 8 carries its weight this weekend if 2011 is to continue its winning ways. Even if Super 8 does land on the high end of expectations, it might not be enough, as this weekend last year saw the release of The Karate Kid, which was a surprise hit that opened with $55 million.
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I think it is not unfair to call Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides a disappointment domestically, as it seems very likely that it won't match its hefty production budget, while it is practically guaranteed it will be the weakest installment in the franchise. On the other hand, the film is breaking records internationally. This weekend it tied the record for the fastest film to reach $600 million internationally, which was previously set by Avatar at just 19 days. It also became the fastest to reach $700 million worldwide at 16 days. This weekend its haul was down to $70.78 million on 15,962 screens in 69 markets for a total of $601.58 million internationally and $791.78 million worldwide, but that was enough to earn first place for the third weekend in a row. The film's biggest market of the weekend was Japan where it made $8.63 million on 802 screens, giving it a total of $62.75 million after just three weeks of release.
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The Tree of Life held onto top spot on the per theater chart with an average of $30,915 in 20 theaters. It will undoubtedly expand further. Beginners was right behind with an average of $28,268 in five theaters. Midnight in Paris continues to shine with an average of $18,843 in 147 theaters. It has a planned semi-wide expansion this weekend, so this is very likely the last time it will top $10,000 on the per theater chart, but it will continue to hit milestones. X-Men: First Class earned first place on the overall box office chart and fourth place on the per theater chart with $15,134. Submarine managed to top $10,000 on the per theater chart, but it was close with and average of $10,458 in four theaters.
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It wasn't exactly a disappointing weekend at the box office, but we did see the overall box office fall closer to the low end of expectations. With $160 million over the weekend, the box office was down 28% from the Friday-through-Sunday portion of the Memorial Day long weekend. However, it was up 24% from this weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2011 now has pulled in $4.23 billion, compared to $4.55 billion for last year. 2011 is still in a massive hole, but at least there's a chance we can close the gap, while reaching $10 billion in total for the year has become a lot more likely.
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2011 continued its winning streak at the box office this weekend, with five films topping $10 million and X-Men: First Class posting a very respectable $56 million opening, according to Fox's Sunday estimate. With the studio setting expectations a little lower than that, they can claim an excellent weekend. And they do have a point, but the truth is that this is the worst opening for a movie in the franchise since the first movie arrived in 2000 (and the latest film's estimate is only ahead by a couple of million dollars, so it might not even beat that mark). Excellent reviews and peak Summer business should help the film over the next few weeks, but it can't afford a 60% decline next weekend.
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For the past two weeks in a row we've seen one limited release just dominate the market by earning close to $100,000 on the per theater chart. Will that happen again this week? The odds are really stacked against it; it would be like a wide release opening with $100 million three weeks in a row. But if it does happen, Submarine is the film most likely to manage that feat. However, there are a few other limited releases worth keeping your eyes on.
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After a record-breaking Memorial Day long weekend, the industry is hoping to maintain that momentum throughout the summer. There's only one wide release to deal with this weekend, X-Men: First Class, but most analysts expect it to earn more than the four wide releases earned in total this weekend last year. Add in stronger holdovers, and every indication says there should be a solid win for 2011 in the year-over-year comparison.
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After a strong May in which most weekends saw growth year-over-year, there is finally some real optimism at the box office. Will that continue this month? It might be tough, as last June was actually pretty good, all things considered. It was certainly busier. This time around there are only seven wide releases, but the lack of competition should help each individual film reach its full potential, and there's a chance five of the seven films will earn more than $100 million at the box office. If less than three of them reach the century mark, it would be a huge shock. On the other hand, there's nothing opening this month that will compare to Toy Story 3, which earned more than $400 million last year. The only one that has a real shot to come close is Transformers: Dark of the Moon. However, since that film opens on a Wednesday the 29th of June and the Friday is the 1st of July, it is more of a July release and we will preview it at the beginning of next month.
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Records were broken on Memorial Day long weekend, which makes the weekend one to remember. Ironic then that the biggest hit of the weekend was a film about people who can't remember the night before. Yes, The Hangover 2 easily took top spot, while Kung Fu Panda 2 was disappointingly far behind. On the other hand, it still earned more than last year's number one film, Shrek Forever After, so it at least pulled its weight. Overall, the three-day box office was a very healthy $223 million, or 33% more than last weekend and 47% more than the same weekend last year. Over four days, the box office pulled in $277 million, or 44% more than last year. Those figures were both records for biggest Memorial Day long weekend ever, crushing 2007's offering by $22 million. Year-to-date, 2011 now has $4.02 billion and has cut the gap with 2010 to just over 8% at $4.38 billion. If the rest of the summer is as strong as May was, we could be in good shape going into the fall.
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As one month closes and another begins, one thing remains constant, our weekly box office prediction contest. There's only one wide release next week, X-Men: First Class, which makes it the target film in this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for X-Men: First Class.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a copy of Burn Notice: Season Four on DVD.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win a copy of White Collar: Season Two on DVD.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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The shaded area represents the expected performance range for a film, based on its opening weekend box office. 95% of films fall within the shaded area. If a film trends towards the top end of the shaded area, it has good legs compared to the average film; if it trends towards the bottom end of the shaded area, it has poor legs. The predictive area is based on movies from the past 5 years.

Full financial estimates for this film, including domestic and international box office, video sales, video rentals, TV and ancillary revenue
are available through our research services. For more information, please contact us at research@the-numbers.com.